Buffs shooting 37.5 percent or worse in seven of the past 10 games

As far as the standings go, the Colorado women's basketball team has absolutely nothing to play for Sunday against Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore.

The 19th-ranked Buffaloes (23-5, 12-5 Pac-12) have already locked up a fourth-place finish and a first-round bye for the Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle. Regardless of Sunday's results around the conference, those things won't change.

This is hardly a meaningless game for the head coach Linda Lappe's squad, however. In recent outings, the CU offense has looked disjointed at times and Lappe would like to correct that.

"I haven't felt like we've run our offense very well in the past few games," Lappe said on Saturday. "(Sunday's game) is a chance to be able to execute our offense and just be a little bit more smooth in what we're doing and to hopefully get in a rhythm offensively."

In Friday's 60-49 win at Oregon, the Buffs struggled on offense, especially early. They made just 28.9 percent of their first-half shots and it wasn't until a late run, during the final 12 minutes, that they started to look comfortable on offense.

CU also had its ups and downs offensively a week earlier, on Feb. 22 against Washington State. The Buffs are shooting 40.7 percent on the season, but have been at 37.5 percent or worse in seven of the past 10 games. They made just 31.9 percent of their shots in their previous matchup with Oregon State, a 61-47 win on Feb. 8 in Boulder.

In addition to their shooting struggles, the Buffs have had at least 18 turnovers in three of their past five games.

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Lappe attributes a portion of the struggles to the variety of defenses the Buffs have seen in recent games.

Seeing the variety of defenses has gotten the Buffs out of a rhythm offensively, but Lappe knows her team needs to find some rhythm in a hurry. Sunday is CU's final chance to put its offense to the test in a game situation before the postseason begins. The Buffs will go to the Pac-12 Tournament next week and, most likely, to the NCAA Tournament later this month.

"It is important," she said. "It's the last regular season game. From here on out, it's all 'lose and go home.' The postseason is something you want to make sure you're really, really prepared for. So, we're trying to prepare for that and trying to prepare for our team to be able to be successful at any level against any team."

Colorado has certainly had its moments on offense in recent games. In particular, freshman Arielle Roberson and sophomore Jen Reese have been great on that side of the floor for several games in a row. Roberson has scored at least 16 points in four straight games, while Reese has come off the bench to score at least eight points in seven consecutive outings.

Senior Chucky Jeffery has been solid on offense, too, and junior Brittany Wilson has taken over on offense at times.

The goal is to get all of those players, as well as the rest of the Buffs, playing well together on offense. That hasn't happened a lot lately.

"When we play our beset, we have a sense of urgency, but we're very calm," Lappe said. "It's an interesting way to look at it and two things that don't normally go together.

"Defensively you can just play hard and good things usually happen. Offense, you've got to have a sense of urgency, but you have to run your offense in a calm way and in sync with each other. I hope that's what we can get out of (Sunday)."

Notable

Sophomore guard Lexy Kresl is still recovering from a right shoulder separation, suffered on Feb. 17 at Arizona State. She continues to get better each day and dressed in uniform on Friday at Oregon. She remains a game-time decision for Sunday.

STORYLINES: By defeating Oregon 60-49 on Friday night, Colorado secured the No. 4 seed, and a first-round bye, for the Pac-12 Tournament. ... Oregon State snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 54-46 win against Utah on Friday. ... Despite their losing streak, the Beavers have been playing well of late. Among their losing streak, they had five losses by five points or less, including a two-point loss to No. 6 Cal and two close losses to fifth-place Washington. ... CU has won eight consecutive conference games, its longest such streak since an eight-game streak in 2001-02. Ironically, both streaks were preceded by a three-game losing streak (with all three losses in both cases coming against ranked teams). ... Should CU extend the streak to nine, it would be the program's longest streak since the 1994-95 team went 14-0 during the Big Eight Conference schedule. ... CU is looking for its 13th conference win, which would be the third-most in program history. Only the 1988-89 and 1994-95 teams (both 14-0) won more than 13. ... Colorado brings the Pac-12's No. 2 scoring defense into the game, allowing just 53.4 points per game. The Buffs have held a school-record 12 opponents below 50 points, including Oregon State on Feb. 8. ... Oregon State has the lowest-scoring offense in the Pac-12, at just 57.1 points per game. The Beavers do rank fifth in defense, however (59.8). ... Oregon State leads the Pac-12 in blocks (5.52 per game). ... CU's Chucky Jeffery is the only player to rank among the top five in the Pac-12 in both rebounds (8.7 per game) and assists (4.07). She is fifth in both categories.

KEY STAT: With a win today, Colorado would match the program record for most regular season victories. The 1988-89 squad set the bar with 24 regular season wins. The 1992-93 and 1994-95 teams also won 24 regular season game.

COACHES: Linda Lappe is 62-35 in her third season at CU and 112-71 overall. Scott Reuck is 39-53 in his third season at Oregon State and 327-141 in his career.

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